Tag: Morsi

Looks like Morsi is out as TMMFIC of Egypt, or at least under house arrest, and the military is taking over. As has been well documented, the Unite States has dished over 1.3 billion in aid so far in 2013. That does not include tanks and planes. I was reading over on Ace’s blog and noted this:

I read a piece a few weeks ago — before this revolution actually became a full revolution — that stated that no one in Egypt’s government had any experience governing or had any idea what the hell they were doing. Basically the government consisted of people who had done nothing but read the Koran all day long all their lives.

I wonder if the military’s statement that a “technocrat, capable” government is a code for “We’re not allowing firebrand clerics to hold positions of responsibility over finance and trade, for God’s sake.” – Ace at Ace of Spades HQ

Ok, so if they have no idea how to govern or deal with finances, who decided how to divvy up 1.3 billion? And who in their right minds thought it was a grand idea to give $1.3 BILLION to a bunch of newbie inexperienced terrorist loving jihadist? Good job Obama, bet we could have used some of those fun tokens here in the good ole US of A.

Every time I hear Democrats talk about spending cuts, all I hear is “we cannot cut that”, or “children will starve” or some other nonsensical clap trap. I especially loathe when these politicians say, that cutting small amounts will do nothing `to reduce the deficit. Really? If you do enough of them it will. How about starting with slicing aid to nations that hate us, or governments run by Islamists like Egypt? How about not giving military aid to these same nations? How about cutting subsidies, and corporate welfare? How about that? How about having sane tax policies? Policies with far fewer exemptions, flat rates, and lower rates. Take away the incentive and the means to cheat on taxes. Hell then we could CUT BACK the IRS, saving even more money. How about repealing ObamaCare? How about eliminating or cutting back on any number of government agencies like the EPA, Departments of Education, Commerce, Energy, and Labor? The fact is this, cutting spending is not hard, well except for politicians who use tax dollars to buy votes or to push their personal agendas.

Had not thought about that as of yet. I was actually wondering when Obama will take credit for this, and somehow blame Bush for Morsi ever assuming power in the first place. I mean Johnathan Alter at MSNBS is already ignoring Obama’s support of Morsi, and all the anti-Obama signs in the crowds in Egypt and giving him credit, but look for Obama to start spiking the football soon enough. But, to the CIA and whether or not they played some role. McCain makes the case pretty well

Anyone who knows the Central Intelligence Agency’s history in orchestrating the overthrow of governments must be wondering whether the agency played a role in the collapse of the Morsi regime.

My hunch? Certainly they did, and we should be glad for it. Morsi’s government was a dangerous proto-fascist Islamic thugocracy.

Think about this: President Obama, John Kerry and other top administration officials have spent the past two years watching the “Arab Spring” turn into a bloody and disastrous failure. The Morsi governmentwas unpopular and unstable, and it might have given way to a totalitarian Islamic dictatorship or the kind of chaotic “failed state” anarchy that could turn Egypt into a base for al-Qaeda.

Would that be good for Democrats in the 2014 elections? In 2016?

No, the endless mess in Syria is bad enough, and to have Egypt descend into a nightmare would have been added to Libya in the Republican indictment of Democrat foreign-policy failure.

Military seizes state TV as its ultimatum to Morsi expires; president’s spokesperson vows Morsi would rather die than give in to army demand to compromise with opposition or face takeover.

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Egypt’s armed forces and Islamist President Mohamed Morsi refused to back down on Wednesday as a deadline for a military takeover passed with rival demonstrators out in force in the streets of Cairo.

Military chiefs, vowing to restore order in a country racked by protests over Morsi’s Islamist policies, issued a call to battle in a statement headlined “The Final Hours”. They said they were willing to shed blood against “terrorists and fools” after Morsi refused to give up his elected office.

Armored vehicles took up position outside the state broadcasting headquarters on the Nile River bank, where soldiers patrolled the corridors and non-essential staff were sent home. But there was no other immediate sign of military action to remove the Muslim Brotherhood president.

In a last-ditch statement a few minutes before the 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) deadline, Morsi’s office said a coalition government could be part of an initiative to overcome a political crisis. But opposition parties refused to negotiate with him and met instead with the commander of the armed forces.

As the ultimatum expired, thousands of anti-Morsi protesters in Tahrir Square in central Cairo let off fireworks, cheered and waved Egyptian flags in celebration.

There was no immediate word from the armed forces, and a spokesman said no fixed time had been set for a statement. Egyptian blogger Su Zee tweeted: “And in typical Egyptian fashion, #egypt is late for its own coup.”

The Arab world’s most populous nation has remained in turmoil since the fall of Hosni Mubarak as Arab Spring uprisings took hold in early 2011, arousing concern among allies in the West and in Israel, with which Egypt has a 1979 peace treaty.

US oil prices rose to a 14-month high above $100 a barrel partly on fears that unrest in Egypt could destabilize the Middle East and lead to supply disruption.

BETTER TO DIE

Less than three hours before the deadline for Morsi to agree to share power or make way for an army-imposed solution, the president’s spokesman said it was better that he die in defense of democracy than be blamed by history.

“It is better for a president, who would otherwise be returning Egypt to the days of dictatorship, from which God and the will of the people has saved us, to die standing like a tree,” spokesman Ayman Ali said, “Rather than be condemned by history and future generations for throwing away the hopes of Egyptians for establishing a democratic life.”

Yet despite Islamist talk of martyrdom and warnings of civil war, the dominant mood in Cairo streets was one of elation rather than foreboding.

Earlier, in an emotional, rambling midnight television address, Morsi said he was democratically elected and would stay in office to uphold the constitutional order, declaring: “The price of preserving legitimacy is my life.”

Liberal opponents said it showed he had “lost his mind”.

The official spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood movement said supporters were willing to become martyrs to defend Morsi.

“There is only one thing we can do: we will stand in between the tanks and the president,” Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters at the movement’s protest encampment in a Cairo suburb that houses many military installations and is near the presidential palace.

“We will not allow the will of the Egyptian people to be bullied again by the military machine.”

CONSULTATIONS

Armed forces commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was meeting the main liberal opposition leader, Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, the top Muslim and Christian religious authorities and leaders of smaller Islamist parties and of the youth protest movement that led the anti-Morsi protests, the military said.

The Brotherhood’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, refused an invitation to meet Sisi, saying it only recognized the elected president.

The Egypt25 television station owned and run by the Brotherhood was continuing to broadcast live split-screen coverage of pro-Morsi demonstrations. The biggest was in a Cairo suburb where tens of thousands of protesters displayed posters of the president and cheered Islamist speakers.

The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said Morsi was expected to either step down or be removed from office and the army would set up a three-member presidential council to be chaired by the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court.

A military source said he expected the army to first call political, social and economic figures and youth activists for talks on its draft road-map for the country’s future.

At least 16 people, mostly supporters of the president, were killed and about 200 wounded when gunmen opened fire overnight on pro-Morsi demonstrators at Cairo University campus.

The Muslim Brotherhood accused uniformed police of the shooting. The Interior Ministry said it was investigating and the governor of Giza province, where the clash occurred, submitted his resignation.

POLICE BACK

Central Cairo was quiet by day. Many stores were shuttered and traffic unusually light. The stock market index recovered losses to close just 0.3 percent lower on hopes of a rapid solution to the crisis.

The Egyptian pound weakened against the dollar at a currency auction, and banks closed early, before the army deadline.

For the first time in many months, uniformed police were back patrolling the streets, and the Interior Ministry said in a statement it would “confront all forms of violence”.

“I could tell that the police are back with their full power on the streets like the old days before the Jan. 25 revolution,” said Amir Aly, 25, a protester outside the presidential palace.

Military sources told Reuters the army had drafted a plan to sideline Morsi, suspend the constitution and dissolve the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament.

Coordinated with political leaders, an interim council would rule pending changes to the Islamist-tinged constitution and new presidential elections, the military sources said.

They would not say what was planned for the uncooperative president, whose office refused to disclose his whereabouts.

The Dustour (constitution) party led by ElBaradei, a former head of the UN nuclear agency, appealed for military intervention to save Egyptian lives, saying Morsi’s speech showed he had “lost his mind” and incited bloodshed.

The opposition National Salvation Front, an umbrella group of liberal, secular and leftist parties, and the “Tamarud – Rebel!” youth movement leading the protests nominated ElBaradei to negotiate with army leaders on a transition.

“PEOPLE’S COUP”

In his 45-minute address to the nation, Morsi acknowledged having made mistakes and said he was still willing to form a national unity government ahead of parliamentary elections and let a new parliament amend the constitution.

But he offered no new initiative and rejected calls to step aside, saying it was his sacred duty to uphold legitimacy – a word he repeated dozens of times.

The massive protests showed that the Brotherhood had not only alienated liberals and secularists by seeking to entrench Islamic rule, notably in a new constitution, but had also angered millions of Egyptians with economic mismanagement.

Tourism and investment have dried up, inflation is rampant and fuel supplies are running short, with power cuts lengthening in the summer heat and motorists spending hours fueling cars.

Four F-16 fighter jets left the U.S. this morning, bound for Egypt as part of a foreign aid package critics say should have been scrapped when the nation elected a president who has called President Obama a liar and urged that hatred of Jews be instilled in children.

A source who works on the Naval Air Force Base in Dallas confirmed the departure of the state-of-the-art fighter planes to FoxNews.com. Sixteen F-16s and 200 Abrams tanks are to be given to the Egyptian government before the end of the year under a foreign aid deal signed in 2010 with then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S. ally..

Critics, including several in Congress, say it doesn’t make sense to follow through with the package, given that new Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, elected last summer, has given decidedly mixed signals about relations with the U.S. While he has toned down his rhetoric since his election, in 2010 – the same year the aid package was struck – Morsi attacked Obama for supporting Israel.

“One American president after another – and most recently, that Obama – talks about American guarantees for the safety of the Zionists in Palestine,” Morsi, then a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, said on Egyptian television in reaction to Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo. “[Obama] was very clear when he uttered his empty words on the land of Egypt. He uttered many lies, of which he couldn’t have fulfilled a single word, even if he were sincere – which he is not.”

In the comments translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Morsi went on to urge that children be taught to hate Jews.

“Dear brothers, we must not forget to nurse our children and grandchildren on hatred towards those Zionists and Jews, and all those who support them,” he said. “They must be nursed on hatred. The hatred must continue.”

Islamofascism: To hear the president and his media stenographers, Egypt’s new leader is a “practical” guy who’s surprisingly Westernized. He loves our movies and even the “ERA.”

Such positive reviews provide Mohammed Morsi a fig leaf of secularism and legitimacy. But they cannot hide his dark Islamist heart.

Time magazine does its best, however, in an “exclusive interview” with Morsi. It lets him filibuster, uninterrupted, about his alleged support for America’s once-proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights for women, claiming that’s what his Muslim Brotherhood party stands for, too.

Sharing more details from the interview on MSNBC, Time’s Rana Foroohar described Morsi as a relative “unknown” in the Brotherhood, whose rise to power was “accidental.”

She portrayed him as a moderate who’s “walking a very fine line between some hard-core Islamists and some more pragmatic supporters of the West.”

This dovetails with the White House’s glowing depiction. The New York Times says Obama is impressed with the Egyptian leader’s “pragmatic confidence.”

For starters, Morsi was hardly a bit player in the Brotherhood. He was hailed as a martyr by the radical Islamist group after spending seven months behind bars for supporting jihadists. And he worked for years alongside Hamas, the Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch.

He spent a decade helping lead the Brotherhood’s parliamentary bloc in Cairo. In 2011, he organized Brotherhood rioting in Tahrir Square that led to exiled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow.

Far from a “moderate,” Morsi is on record calling for Jew blood in jihad.

• In a September 2003 letter to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, he declared solidarity with Hamas and its goal of destroying Israel.

VIn April 2004, he led efforts in the Egyptian parliament to scrap the 30-year peace treaty with Israel.

• In 2007, according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, he pledged Brotherhood support to Hamas to annihilate Israel through violent jihad.

• Also in 2007, Morsi participated in a teleconference with Hamas’ Haniyeh, saying “resistance is the right and only way to liberate the land from the defilement of the Jews.”

Make no mistake: Morsi is no statesman. He’s a radical Islamofascist whose goal is Mideast hegemony. Most disturbing, he views our president as a key partner in his wicked project. As Time’s Foroohar noted, “He feels they’re very much in alignment about goals in the region.”